Jib crane



Patented Mar. 10, 1953 JIB CRANE Fredrick J. Truesdale, Steubenville, Ohio, assignor. to National Steel Corporation, a corporation of Delaware Application May 23, 1950, Serial No. 163,597

3 Claims.

The present invention relates to an improved cranestructure and is primarily concerned with a novel crane structure for use in steel mills and other plants.

In steel mills, the molten steel is discharged from an open hearth furnace, Bessemer converter, mixer or other source into a large ladle. The ladle is then transported from one point at which the ladle is filled to the door where the ingot molds are located. The customary mill includes a large overhead crane and this mill crane is used to transport the ladle and to support the ladle as the metal is teemed into the ingot molds. The molds may be movably supported and moved one after the other past the teeming ladle, or, the crane may be used to move the ladle from one ingot mold to the next until the ladle is empty. A pouring platform extends along the side of the building adjacent the floor where the ingot molds are located and men are stationed on this platform for aiding in the teeming. operation. It is a customary practice in many mills to place caps or hottops on the ingot molds and-after the steel has solidi fied, these caps must be removed. The caps are quite heavy and it is necessary to use the large overhead crane to place the caps on the molds and to remove the capsfrom the molds after the steel has cooled sufficiently. Using-the mill crane to position or remove the caps ties up the crane, prevents the crane from being used to handle the ladle, interfere with the operation of the plant and causes expensive delays.

It is an object of the present invention to.

Another object of the present invention is to provide anovel apparatus for removing caps and other objects from ingot mold that can be readily moved out of the Way of the overhead mill crane when the mill crane is transporting ladles of molten steel into position for teeming the metal into the ingot molds.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a novel crane structure arranged in such In, accordance with the present invention, upper and lower ways are mounted in spaced relation relative to each other on the side of a wall structure at the side of the mill building in which the ingot floor is located where the ingot molds are filled with molten steel. The ways extend horizontally along the side of the side wall and a vertically disposed crane carriage is mounted on these ways for movement along the side of the building. A boom is mounted on the carriage and extends out over the pouring or ingot floor for lifting thecaps onto or off of the ingot molds and when this crane is not being used, the boom can be folded back adjacent to or against the crane carriage and out of the way of the path of the large overhead crane so that the overhead crane can move into position with a ladle of hot steel to teem the metal into the ingot mold. The foldable crane'structure does not interfere with normal operation of the large overhead crane which is used for many purposes and prevents costly delays in the various mill operations.

These and other objects and advantages of i the 'present'invention will become more readily apparent from the following description, taken in connection'vvith the accompanying drawings, in which: i I

Figure'lis a side 'view, partially in section, showingapparatus embodying the principles of the present'inVentiQnQand Figure'z is a front view of a portion of the apparatus shown in Figure-1.

Referring to the drawings, the building it, only a portion of which is shown, maybe of any suitable type, and includes a vertical, outer side wall {I I As shown, aseries of vertical structural members lz are located adjacent to and inside of side Wall H. These-vertical structural members I2 constitute an upright side wall structure The large overhead crane I1 is customarily provided inthe buildings of steel mills" and this crane is intended to transport heavyloads such as a ladle fromone location to another location A side i accuses in the building. The crane I1 carries a depending cab I 5 in which the crane operator is located. The crane I l is used to transport a ladle filled with molten steel and to support the ladle while the molten metal is teemed into the ingot molds l9 located in the area of the mill commonh referred to as the ingot floor. A platform is provided at the side of the building and workmen usually stand on this platform 28 in position to aid in carrying out the teeming operation. It is frequently necessary to place caps 18 on top of the ingot molds l9 and then to remove the caps from the molds. These caps are quite heavy and it has been customary to use the crane H to lift the caps and place them on the molds and to remove the caps from the molds. This ties up the crane H and prevents the crane from being used at other places in the mill building and prevents the crane from being used to transport full or empty ladles of molten metal. This in turn reduces the amount of steel produced as other operations must wait until the crane H is available.

As described heretofore in detail, the mill structure, the crane, the ingot molds and the other equipment are of customary construction.

In accordance with the present invention, a novel crane apparatus is provided for lifting caps to remove or emplace the caps or other objects on the ingot molds. scribed in detail, this crane is arranged in novel manner so as not to interfere with the use of the mill crane l'l.

On the sides of columns l2, there are mounted lower and upper brackets 22 and 23. brackets carry a beam 25 on which is mounted a lower way or rail 26 extending along the wall 13. The upper brackets 23 support a pair of horzontally spaced apart guides 21 which together provide an upper way or guide slot 28. A crane '29 is mounted on the side of the wall structure I3 for horizontal movement along the ways 21 and 28 and along the side of the upright wall 13.

The crane 29 includes a rectangular carriage frame 38 provided with lower flanged wheels 3i that ride on rail 26. A pair of vertical upper guides or rolls 32 are rotatably mounted in bearings 33 and these guides 32 extend between guide members 2'? for holding the carriage 25 upright as it moves along the rail 25. A boom 35 is pivotally mounted at the inner end in bearings 35 and can be positioned in a load lifting position in which the boom extends outwardly away from the carriage 29 as shown in full lines in Figure l. The boom 35 is swingable from the load lifting position and can be folded upwardly back against the carriage 29 as shown in full lines in Figure 2 and as shown in broken lines in Figure 1.

A motor driven boom hoist 35 is mounted on the carriage frame 30 and a cable 31 is connected to the outer end portion of the boom 35. The cable 3'! passes around a pulley 38 at the top of the carriage and down to the hoist 3%. The hoist 36 can be operated to reel in or pay out cable 3i and raise or lower the boom. A second motor driven hoist 39 is mounted on frame 39. A cable to extends from hoist as and over a sheave 43' on the outer end of the boom. The end of cable 40 carries a load engaging and lifting tool ll. Hoist 39 can be operated to reel in or pay out cable 43 and lift or lower an ingot cap or other article. m1 electric motor 42 is mounted on carriage frame 30 and connected As will be more fully de- The lower including flanged wheels mounted on the l.

to one of the wheels 31 for moving the crane 29 along the ways and along the side of the wall l3. A control panel M is mounted on the crane 29 and includes the necessary control means for operating the hoists 35 and 39 and motor Q2. Preferably, the panel 44 is located so that an operator standing on the escape platform as can reach the panel and operate the crane 29. The platform 35 is provided to facilitate the escape of the operator of crane ll from cab Hi. The panel 5 3 may be located at any suitable point, a preferred location being shown. A safety cable 25 is connected to the boom and carriage.

Assuming that the crane 25 is being used and that crane i1 is at some other location in the mill, the boom 35 is in the load lifting position and extends outwardly from the carriage. The crane is used to lift caps or other objects off of or onto the ingot molds. The mill crane ll can be used at other locations and is not tied up by this operation. When the crane is to bring a ladle of metal to the ingot floor for teeming molten steel into the ingot molds, it will be noted that the cab 15 moves in a path along the side of the building adjacent the side wall l3 and that the outwardly extending boom 35' is in the path of a portion of the crane l1. Before the crane ii is moved into position over the ingot molds, the hoist 35 is operated to fold the boom 35 upwardly toward and preferabl up against the carriage 39 and out of the path of crane ii. The crane H is then moved over the ingot molds to fill the molds. After the crane i? has been moved along the building to return the empty ladle to be filled or has been moved from above the ingot molds for any other purpose, the crane boom 35 can be lowered back to the operating or load lifting position.

With the present arrangement, the mill crane ll which is used for many purposes around the mill, is not tied up to lift the ingot mold caps l3 and the crane boom 35 can be folded back out of the way of crane I! when it is necessary to move crane I! past crane '29. The crane carriage is disposed in a vertical plane and is movable along the upper and lower ways so that carriage 2G does not extend out over the mill floor and into the path of crane I7.

I claim:

1. A crane structure comprising an upright, horizontally elongated wall structure including vertical supporting members, a horizontal lower rail mounted on the supporting members, laterally spaced apart horizontal guide members disposed above the lower rail and mounted on the vertical supporting members, a crane carr' disposed in a vertical plane, the crane earl :er rail and rollers extending between the guide members so that crane carriage is movable along the side of the wall structure, a motor connected to the flange wheels for moving the carriage along the rail, 2. first hoist mounted on the carriage, a second hoist mounted on the carriag a boom pivotally mounted at one end on the crane carriage, a boom supporting cable connected to the first hoist and to the boom for supporting the boom in a lifting position in which the boom extends outwardly from the carriage and for folding the boom inwardly toward the carriage to a folded position, and a load lifting cable connected to the second hoist and carried by the boom for lifting an object. 2. A crane structure comprising an upright wall structure including vertical supporting members, a horizontal relatively lower way means mounted on the supporting members, a horizontal relatively higher way means mounted on the supporting members, a carriage mounted on the way means and movable therealong, motor driven drive means mounted on the carriage and operable to move the carriage along the way means, a first hoist mounted on the carriage, a second hoist mounted on the carriage, a boom pivotally mounted at one end on the carriage and swingable about a horizontal axis, a boom supporting cable connected at one end to the boom and connected at the other end to the first hoist for supporting the boom in a lifting position in which the boom extends outwardly from the carriage and for folding the boom upwardly and inwardly toward the carriage to a folded position, and a load lifting cable connected to the second hoist and carried by the boom with the second hoist being operable to reel in and pay out the load lifting cable to raise and lower an object.

3. A crane structure comprising an upright wall structure including laterally spaced apart vertical supporting members, horizontal lower rail means mounted on the supporting members, horizontal guide means mounted on the supporting means spaced from and substantially directly above the lower rail means, a rectangular crane carriage means disposed between the rail means and the guide means, the crane carriage means including flanged wheels mounted on the lower rail means and roller means engaging the upper guide means so that the carriage is movable along the side wall of the structure, motor means connected to the flanged wheels for moving the carriage along the wall structure, a boom pivotally mounted at an inner end on the carriage and extending outwardly from the carriage, the boom being swingable about a horizontal axis, a first hoist means mounted on the carriage, a supporting cable connected at one end to the boom and connected at the other end to the first hoist, the supporting cable supporting the beam in its outwardly extending, lifting position, the first hoist means being operable to reel in the boom supporting cable and swing the boom upwardly and inwardly toward the carriage, a second hoist means mounted on the carriage, and a load lifting cable connected at one end to the second hoist means and extending over sheave means at the outer end of the boom for raising and lowering an object.

FREDRICK J. TRUESDALE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 329,219 Samuel Oct. 27, 1885 707,660 Watlingt0n Aug. 26, 1902 1,383,065 Biggert June 28, 1921 

